Teen Catholic defends the church

By Editor, The Chronicle

Regarding W. Stanley Hall's July 25 letter, I am a 16-year-old Roman Catholic. I have been going to Catholic schools all my life. I was educated at Our Lady of Peace in North Augusta and now attend Aquinas High School. I am aware of the overpopulation problem, but I believe blaming one person's religious practices is not going to solve the problem.

The Catholic church does believe in a type of "birth control" known as family planning. I also believe in something else - self-control. The church teaches us to wait until marriage before having sex. The Catholic church, I believe, has taken an honorable step in disapproving of birth control, since the purpose of sex is reproduction.

In order to control the population, people need to learn how to control themselves. I believe that if you are old enough to have sex, you are old enough to take the consequences and responsibilities that come from it.